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A comment on Amazon drivers are hanging smartphones in trees to get more work. Parent comment

Re:Amazon drivers are hanging smartphones in trees to get mo... by inopinatus on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @06:13PM (#24347756)
The correct term for this measure of the geodesic is orthodromic distance and is guaranteed to get confused looks from people, which is often my intention.

You may then proceed to explain this refers to the distance by camel.

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Re:Amazon drivers are hanging smartphones in trees to get mo... by _jal on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @06:58PM (#24348105)
Telling people the shortest path is a great circle is also fun.
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Re:Amazon drivers are hanging smartphones in trees to get mo... by dylan604 on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @06:36AM (#24351843)
Me: 'The shortest distance is a straight line'

You: Except on a globe, it is a great circle.

Me: 'Nobody said on the surface. I'm tunneling through.'

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Re:Amazon drivers are hanging smartphones in trees to get mo... by pmiller2 on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @03:17PM (#24356802)
It's more like that on the surface of a sphere, great circles are lines. That's how it's interpreted in spherical geometry.
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